Acer Nitro 5 AN517-55-5364 Powers Up But Doesn't Boot

My laptop just randomly decided to stop booting. I bought it used, but it has been working great until today. I bring it with me to and from work. When I left for work, I shut it down like normal and packed it up. When I got here, I turned it on. The keyboard lit up like normal, but nothing showed up on the screen. It was completely black. It didn't boot to the Acer logo or Windows.

I have removed memory and even swapped memory slots. I have disconnected and removed the battery AND the CMOS battery, clearing the capacitors with the power button afterwards.

I even took off the heatsinks to see if there were signs of damage anywhere on the motherboard. I saw no signs of damage to the board.

I really can't afford a new laptop right now or a costly repair. So I'm hoping there's something I just neglected to do that might address the issue. Have I neglected to do anything else that might address the problem?

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Puraw

Are you using a "brick" 180-Watt power adapter or USB-C charger to power the laptop, if the latter what is the Watt? One thing you did not do yet is reset BIOS by shortening the CMOS contacts, make sure the battery is disconnected if you want to try that. Remove the coin battery from the CMOS capsule and inside the CMOS capsule shorten the +/- contacts (bottom and sides) with a bended paper clip, then put the coin battery back with + sign facing up.

wzpatman

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1267786#Comment_1267786

I am using a brick power adapter.

I will try resetting the BIOS right now. I think I understand how, but just in case, is there a diagram or video to follow?

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1267787#Comment_1267787

I don't have that, you wrote you took the coin battery out already, inside the CMOS there is the - contact at the bottom and the + contact at the two sides, just connect those 2 contacts with a bended paperclip or short electrical wire with bare ends to make good contact for a second or so. Disconnect the battery first and the CMOS is located under the battery (two twisted wires Red&Black)

wzpatman

I removed the battery, then removed the CMOS battery from the capsule and used a paper clip to connect the positive and negative terminals. I then replaced and reconnected the battery. The laptop powered up, keyboard lit up, then turned off and lit up again, but there is still nothing showing up on the screen.

wzpatman

Hopefully there are some more possible simple DIY solutions out there. I looked up this laptop SN through Acer Services, and it went out of warranty on 3/22/24. So it's only been about a week out of warranty and something goes wrong that will more than likely need a costly repair that I just can't afford.

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1267792#Comment_1267792

Nah, they are quite flexible at Acer Services depending on the country, they serviced my laptop in the Philippines months after the expiry date. I don't know what else you can try. Do you have an external monitor to check if that works?

William_mk2

@wzpatman

I am really sorry for the inconvenience.. Let us do the basic steps first..

Doing the power drain and bios defaults will really help. Kindly follow the steps given below:

Kindly go through the details from the link given below

https://community.acer.com/en/kb/articles/75-acer-internal-battery-reset

Turn off the laptop. Disconnect or unplug the charger cable, devices or any other cables connected to your laptop. Close your laptop. Turn it upside down. On the bottom of the laptop, you can find a pin hole. It is a tiny hole. You can a find a battery symbol indicator next to the hole. It is like a + and – sign symbol as though somebody is trying to shift the battery out. Insert the pin on to the hole for 30 seconds. Remove the pin. Flip the laptop. Connect the charger cable, turn on the computer. Only on laptops where the battery is inbuilt you can find the battery reset hole on the back of laptop.

If you don’t find a pin hole on the back of laptop then you might be using removable battery. There is no need to unscrew anything to remove the battery. Turn off the laptop. Disconnect or unplug the charger cable, devices and any other cables connected to your laptop. Close your laptop. Turn it upside down. On the bottom of the laptop, please look at the top or bottom depending on the way you look at it. You can find a long door. It is a battery removable door. Just below that you can find a latch. If you move the latch you can remove the battery door. Once the battery is removed, flip the laptop. Open the top cover, press and hold the power button for 1 minute. Connect the battery back on the back of computer. Connect the charger cable back and then turn on the computer.

If you don’t see a reset pin hole on the back of laptop or if you are not able to remove the battery (if it is inbuilt) then please unplug all the cables and devices out of laptop. Hold the power button for 1 minute. After releasing the button you should wait a while before plugging in power. Just because the button has been pressed doesn’t bleed off all the residual electricity on the motherboard. Wait 15-30 minutes before plugging in power. Then once power is connected wait for a full battery indication before turning the system on. That allows the battery to fully reset it’s internal statistics.

Connect all the cables back and restart the computer.

While turning on the computer, tap f2. It will go to bios. Press f9 once. It will show load bios defaults with a yes or no popup. Press enter. Popup screen will disappear. Press f10 once. It will show save changes popup with yes or no. Press enter. Computer will restart and it will load into windows.

It might also be the issue with battery, charger or power outlet. Try to use the charger in a different room on a different power outlet. Try to bypass the surge protector and connect it directly to power outlet. Try to use an alternative charger if possible. Try to turn on the computer without the charger and check it ( as long as the battery is not drained out )

Try windows x
go to device manager
expand Battery
right click on all the items below battery – uninstall
Restart the computer

It should work fine..

wzpatman

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1267800#Comment_1267800

Oh, my concern wasn't that they wouldn't service it. I knew they would. My concern was that it would cost a lot of money, which it will. They quoted me more than I personally paid for the laptop to service it.

wzpatman

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1269445#Comment_1269445

I did all of those steps. It would never load into a boot screen to do anything, even after draining the battery and disconnecting the CMOS battery.

I contacted several places about my issue, including Acer. While Acer couldn't give me a diagnosis prior to servicing, several other companies knew right away what the problem was. The problem is related to the GPU. Either the GPU went bad or a chip connected to the GPU has shorted. I'm hoping that the company I sent it to can service it. They quoted me 1/3 of the cost that Acer did if their repair is successful. But chances are that I'm probably going to have to purchase a new computer.

That's the way the game goes with gaming laptops, though. When making gaming laptops, companies need to stop trying to make everything increasingly smaller, thinner and more compact, especially at the expense of power, airflow and heat dissipation. My laptop doesn't need to be externally sleek and aerodynamic. It's not a car or an airplane. I don't care if it weighs an extra pound or two if it means it's more durable and capable.

William_mk2

@wzpatman

I understand you say "It would never load into a boot screen to do anything"

First of all, we need to determine whether it is a hardware or software issue.

Reinstalling windows might be the last step. Even after reinstalling windows if it is still not working then it might be a hardware issue.

It might also be the issue with battery, charger or power outlet. Try to use the charger in a different room on a different power outlet. Try to bypass the surge protector and connect it directly to power outlet. Try to use an alternative charger if possible. Try to turn on the computer without the charger and check it ( as long as the battery is not drained out )

Note: You can also go to chose an option , continue , troubleshoot by holding the alt key + tapping f10 or alt gr + tapping f10 on the keyboard while turning on the computer. Once you see the troubleshoot option, you can stop tapping the f10 and stop holding the alt key. Then you can try the keep my files and remove everything ( just remove by files and fully clean the drive ) by following the steps which is mentioned below.

You can also do the recovery in an alternative way..

There are two alt keys on the keyboard. If you look at the bottom row of keyboard you can see the one on the left side of space bar and the other on the right side of space bar. The alt key on the right side will be looking like alt, alt gr or alt car. Turn off the computer. Hold the alt key on the left and tap f10 continuously. It will go to repair mode. It will show you chose an option, continue, troubleshoot. If it is not going to repair mode, turn off the computer. Turn on the computer. Hold the right alt key ( alt gr or alt car or alt ) and then tap f10 continuously. It will go to chose an option continue and troubleshoot..

It will show you chose an option, continue, troubleshoot
Go to troubleshoot - click on reset this pc
click on keep my files ( only applications will be lost ) chose your account and type your password - click on local reinstall - click on reset
It will be in progress

If the keep my files option is not working

Go to troubleshoot - click on reset this pc – click on remove everything – click on local reinstall – just remove my files – click on reset
It will reinstall windows.

If the just remove my files is not working..

Go to troubleshoot - click on reset this pc – click on remove everything – click on local reinstall – Fully clean the drive – click on reset
It will reinstall windows.

If it is still not working …

Try this method..

On a different working computer.

Go to the website
https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/software-download/windows10
Below the info Create Windows 10 installation media
click on download tool now..
It will download the windows media creation tool - click on media creation file on the lower left corner.
Insert a blank 8 gb flash drive
it will download and install the windows 10 on the blank flash drive..

Now insert the flash drive on the broken computer

Tap f2 for laptop and del for desktop while turning on the computer
It will go to bios
Go to main
change the f12 boot menu to enabled
Go to boot tab or boot options tab
change the settings
Boot mode: UEFI
Secure boot : Enabled
F10 - Save the changes
Try f12 while turning on the computer.
It will go to boot menu
chose the usb

Boot it using flash drive..
click on install
chose custom
on where do you want to install windows screen - remove all the partitions
It will become like one single unallocated space
There is no need to format it..
chose the unallocated space
click on next
It will install the operating system.

wzpatman

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1269487#Comment_1269487

I tried all of these things. I attempted to force the computer into Windows repair mode. I tried to get into the BIOS. The problem is that it never began the POST steps to get into the BIOS or repair mode. The screen remained completely blank. Even if I tried to use a separate monitor, nothing came up.

It is completely a hardware issue.

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